Jar of Hearts and Can of Confession
by Mitzia
Summary: Takano invites Ritsu over for dinner on Valentine's day. A nervous Ritsu decides to come over and thinks heavily about their relationship. What will he say that will change their lives forever? T just in case


"Happy Valentine's day!"

Women crowded the Emerald Department of Marukawa Shoten to try and give the famous editors their choclate. Today wasn't an especially busy day for working on manuscripts since mangakas that had someone special in their lives wanted to spend this day with them. The men spent their time trying to accept all of the chocolates as soon as they could so they could go home.

"H-Here's my chocolate, Kisa-san," a shy brunette said as she handed Kisa a heart shaped box.

"Aww, thank you Sara-san! I bet they'll taste awesome!" he cheered as he put the box with the rest of his ever-growing pile. He gave her a quick hug and she left the room, squealing as she walked.

"Hatori-san! This is for all of your hard work!" a black haired girl said.

"This is for Mino, too!" another said as they handed the editors small bags of chocolate.

"Thank you," Hatori and Mino said kindly.

"Onodera-san! I have some chocolates for you!" a man yelled. Ritsu turned and saw the president of Marukawa, Isaka, standing in the doorway.

"Ah, Isaka-san. Thanks," Ritsu said as he took a bag of chocolates.

"Busy as ever I see?" Isaka said, glancing at the different editors with tables covered in choclate.

"Is this how it normally is?" Ritsu asked.

Isaka nodded. "But this year it's a bit busier since you have fans of your own now." Ritsu looked at the many girls around his friends. Isaka leaned in to whisper in the brunette's ear. "Have you given chocolate to your special someone?"

Ritsu blushed furiously and jumped away from Isaka. "W-W-What do you mean?"

Isaka smirked at the cute reaction from Ritsu. They both knew who Isaka was talking about - it was fairly obvious and Isaka won't ever pass up good gossip.

"Oh, Onodera. You still doubt it? Oh well. If he gets taken away today by some lovely lady here, I guess it was fate," the president said. He shrugged his shoulders and walked out of the department.

Ritsu looked at Takano from the corner of his eye. He had that fake smile plastered on his face like when he talks to a famous client. Onodera knew the difference, but even so, Takano looked quite happy near the girls. He felt a bit of jealousy well up inside him, but he brushed it away.

There's no way he could fall in love with him again after ten years...right?

After all the chocolate was finally exchanged, it was time to leave. Onodera put his chocolate in his bag and tried to get out of the publishing house as soon as possible. Unfortunately for him, Takano was always one step ahead of him.

"Onodera, where are you going?" Takano asked.

"I'm going home," Ritsu said. He tried to speed walk as calmly as he could, but Takano grabbed his wrist and prevented him from moving.

"If you going home, come over to my place for dinner," Takano said.

"I-I'm not hungry, now leave me go," Ritsu said. He struggled to free his wrist from the older man. While we tried, a somewhat loud rumbling sound erupted between the two. Ritsu blushed and freed his hand before trying to run away.

"It doesn't sound like your not hungry, Onodera. Come to my place," Takano said, smirking in victory. He watched as Ritsu didn't answer and walk away.

The brunette was very hungry, but he couldn't give his boss the pleasure of being right. Since it was a free meal and Takano was a surprisingly good cook unlike Ritsu, he managed to convince himself to take his former senpai up on his offer.

It would be rude to come without something, so on the way home Ritsu stopped at the convenience store for a snack. Ritsu looked at the aisles filled with instant noodles and bags of chips. The aisles that caught his eyes were the ones with frilly red and pink decorations.

"Have you given chocolate to your special someone?"

Isaka's words rang in Onodera's blushing red ears. There was no way he would give Takano chocolate. They were both guys and Valentine's day is for girls.

The more Ritsu looked at the rows of chocolate, the more tempted he was to buy it. All the girls at the office gave him chocolate, so would it make a difference if he bought some too?

When Ritsu snapped out of his thoughts, he found himself outside of Takano's apartment with a bag of beer and chocolate. "Dammit," he mumbled.

An elevator arrived and Takano walked out of it by himself. "I knew you'd be here," he smirked.

"Shut up," the brunette said as he turned his head away.

Takano chuckled and unlocked the apartment door for the both of them. Ritsu walked to the table and placed the bag on it. "I brought beer."

"Oh, thanks. I just ran out the other day and didn't have time to buy more. What do you want to eat?"

"Anything is fine."

Takano nodded and took some food out of the refrigerator to prepare. Ritsu sat at the table and didn't pay much attention. He just stared at the bag and wondered why he bought the chocolate.

It wasn't like Ritsu hated Takano, if anything it was the opposite. He looked up to his senpai since he was so good at his job. He did everything with passion, even though most of the time it was hidden by angry yelling and such. He wanted to be more like him when it came to editing.

Ritsu could never tell his boss that. It would boost his ego unnecessarily. Takano would try to pry and say it was love. That word seemed to scare Ritsu. After what happened between him and his senpai ten years ago, he thought if he were to put effort into a relationship again it would end up with more time apart.

Ever since the two were reunited by fate, Ritsu has a hard time dealing with being alone for too long.

Did that mean he fell in love for the second time or was he in love the whole time without knowing it?

"Onodera. What's wrong with you?" Takano asked.

Ritsu shook his head and saw Takano sitting across from him with a meal already prepared and dished out. While Ritsu was thinking, Takano had made lasanga for the two of them. "Nothing is wrong. Thank you for the meal," he said as he began to eat.

"You sure have been drifting off all day. Is it because it's your first Valentine's day at Marukawa?" Takano asked. Ritsu blushed and pretending not to hear it. "I'll take your silence as a yes," he smirked.

"Shut up. That's not it," Onodera said. He reached into the bag on the table and took out a can of beer, taking a quick sip from it.

"Then there is something wrong." Ritsu took another gulp of alcohol and stayed quiet.

"Nothing is wrong, Takano-san."

"Something is wrong, Onodera. Tell me."

"No."

"Yes."

"No!"

"Yes!"

"I said no! Takano-san, just please stop," Ritsu said. He chugged the rest of the beer and took out another one.

"Onodera, what's your problem? I'm only trying to help," Takano said.

"You can't help with this one," Ritsu said.

"Why not? Does it have to do with me?"

Onodera looked at his senpai. Bullseye. He couldn't come up with a way to say he was wrong. His problem had everything to do with Takano and himself.

"So it does," Takano sighed. "What's up? You know you can tell me anything."

Ritsu remained speechless and continued to drink the beer. Takano stared at his lover patiently, waiting for the talkative drunk inside to be set free. A pink hue decorated his cheeks, so he decided to ask again.

"What is wrong, Onodera?"

"I...I don't know how I feel."

"About what?"

"You."

Takano's eyes widened as he listened.

"I admire you as an editor, you're amazing. I want to be like that when I get more experienced. But I can't look at you like an idol. I don't hate you at all. I really like you, but I'm afraid."

"Are you afraid to love me because of what happened in high school?"

The brunette nodded after a long pause. Takano's eyes softened as he got up and hugged his kouhai. He finally understood why Ritsu was like this the whole time. It wasn't hate, it was fear.

"You know Onodera, I was scared too. I thought we'd never be together again. Sometimes I even thought if we were to be together, it'd end up like the last time. You weren't the only one that was scared."

Ritsu was in complete shock. Takano always had a confident air around him. He was a take charge type of person. He never thought someone like him would be scared. The brunette wrapped his arms around Takano.

"Um, I have something for you," he mumbled into the older man's chest. Takano released him and watched as he grabbed something from the bag.

"H-Happy Valentine's day," Ritsu said as he held out his hand to Takano. He held a small jar of hearts made of chocolate. Takano took them and stared at them for a moment.

"Happy Valentine's day, Ritsu," Takano said as he hugged his lover once more.

* * *

**Author's Note**

**Uwahh~! I finally finished it! I hope it turned out alright. (^_^"') This it the first thing I wrote on the wordpad on my main computer instead of my laptop and it was nice and quick. After a year of writing fanfics, I'm still an idiot. XD I've been waiting so freaking long for Ritsu to confess and still hasn't happened yet~! DX Hopefully soon he will in the manga ^/^**

**Happy Valentine's Day and sayonara~!**


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